Hawaiian Electric will pay customers with battery systems upfront incentives owed by insolvent third-party provider Home Rewards Battery Program operator Swell Energy closes its doors

Hawaiian Electric will pay customers with battery systems
upfront incentives owed by insolvent third-party provider
Home Rewards Battery Program operator Swell Energy closes its doors
HONOLULU, Sept.26, 2024 – Hawaiian Electric is assuring customers with battery storage
systems that the company will pay any upfront incentives they are owed by Swell Energy Inc., a
now-insolvent third-party provider that operated the Home Rewards Battery Program.
Swell Energy recently closed its doors and is no longer supporting its Home Battery Rewards
Program offered to Hawaiian Electric Customers. Swell was contracted by Hawaiian Electric in
2021 to deliver grid services that included aggregating home battery systems to create a “virtual
power plant.”
Swell enrolled Hawaiian Electric customers with battery storage systems into the Home Battery
Rewards Program, aggregated and operated the fleet of systems and paid customer incentives.
There are about 1,200 customers enrolled in the program on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawaii Island.
The program’s incentives include both an upfront payment and monthly bill credits. In a letter to
program participants, Hawaiian Electric said it would pay customers any upfront incentives they
are owed by Swell. Upfront payments will be made only to eligible Home Rewards Battery
Program customers who qualify under the terms of their contract.
Because Swell is no longer operating, Hawaiian Electric is not able to receive grid services from
customer battery systems. As a result, Hawaiian Electric will pause monthly credits starting in
October and work with customers to unenroll their systems from the program so they can have
better control over their energy resources to help manage their energy costs. Future options
include continuing the current program or potentially transition customers to a new program.
“This situation is unprecedented and we appreciate customers’ patience and understanding as
we work toward a positive resolution,” said Yoh Kawanami, Hawaiian Electric customer energy
resources co-director.
Swell Energy was part of Hawaiian Electric’s Power Partnership Program, an initiative that
incentivizes customers to play a greater role in operating the electric grid reliably and efficiently
while helping Hawaii reach its clean energy goals. The program relies on independent
companies to recruit and sign-up customers with solar systems, batteries, electric vehicles and
other load flexibility devices to aggregate their services to support the grid.